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All eyes likely to be on the JSE’s miners on Monday

19 June 2017 - 07:56
Robert Laing

Picture: JSE

All eyes will be on mining stocks when the JSE opens on Monday morning to see if the plunge following Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane’s unveiling of the third Mining Charter has come to an end.

Platinum miners were hardest hit by Zwane ordering mines to raise their empowerment levels to 30% within 12 months. The JSE’s platinum miners index fell 6.94% on Friday, led down by Anglo American Platinum which slid 7.18% to R281.31, followed by Northam, which fell 5.12% to R43.17.

The JSE’s gold miners index fell 4.93%, led down by AngloGold Ashanti, which fell 6.08% to R138.31, Gold Fields fell 4.54% to R44.80 and Harmony 4% to R22.80.

"Frankly, we are concerned that a minister who is criminally liable and possibly dishonest, has the audacity to make such profound changes to one of the key economic pillars of the country, when the country is economically in dire straits," the FW de Klerk Foundation said in a statement on Sunday.

"We cannot but suspect that he is serving the interest of the captors of SA Inc in the name of transformation. Apparently the ANC, who have requested an urgent meeting with Minister Zwane, have the same concern."

The rand, which had strengthened to R12.59/$ on Thursday before Zwane’s press conference, was trading at R12.81/$ at 6:50am on Monday morning.

Early tallies of the French election on Monday morning indicated President Emmanuel Macron’s Republique en Marche! party and its allies won a clear majority of between 350 and 361 seats of the 577-seat national assembly.